Gas and car or cash: County leaders get free ride

May 30, 2008

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

1 of 5

FILL 'ER UP: Armen Zanazanian, an automotive mechanic with the County of Orange refuels a county vehicle at the Civic Center garage in Santa Ana. The station is one of four refueling stations where county employees can refuel their county vehicle. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 5

CARD NEEDED: The County of Orange fuel access card needed to fill a vehicle with gas. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 5

REFULING STATION: The County of Orange fueling site located in Santa Ana. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 5

SELF SERVE: Armen Zanazanian an automotive mechanic with the County of Orange enters the required odometer reading before he can refuel a county vehicle. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 5

COUNTY FILL-UP: Armen Zanazanian, an automotive mechanic with the County of Orange refuels a county vehicle at the Civic Center garage in Santa Ana. The station is one of four refueling stations where county employees can refuel their county vehicle. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FILL 'ER UP: Armen Zanazanian, an automotive mechanic with the County of Orange refuels a county vehicle at the Civic Center garage in Santa Ana. The station is one of four refueling stations where county employees can refuel their county vehicle. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Want as much free gas as you can pump?

All you have to do is get elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors or squeeze your way into the top manager ranks.

Current county policies allow elected supervisors and selected managers to get a free car and use as much gas as they please.

If they don't want the car and the free gas, they get a $765 monthly car allowance, which in turn helps spike their pension payouts by beefing up their monthly paychecks.

On Tuesday, supervisors are scheduled to approve an increase in the allowance. But with gas prices soaring for taxpayers, and questions mounting about the freebies, several now say that they might have much tougher questions about the increase.

Four out of five county supervisors accept the car allowance, at a cost to taxpayers of $36,720 last year.

At a pump underneath the civic center in Santa Ana, officials like Bates and Norby can gas up for free. Over the lpast year, for example, Bates got 536.7 gallons of free gas at a cost of $1,569.77 to taxpayers. Norby got 1,038.8 gallons with taxpayers footing a $2,857.29 bill.

County officials confirmed that three other officials - District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson and Sheriff's Department Finance Director Rick Dostal - also get the free cars and gas.

Rackauckas has been driving a 2006 Chevy Tahoe since December 2005. He's gotten 3,667.3 gallons of free gas at a cost of $10,014.97 to taxpayers.

County officials couldn't provide figures for the Sheriff's Department.

On top of the elected officials, an additional 103 managers - including most department heads - also take the $765 a month car allowance. That cost taxpayers another $945,540 last year.

Yet with some taxpayers having to pay near $5 for a gallon for their own gas, the county perk is beginning to turn heads.

County union officials fumed when informed of the price tag from the gas perk, noting that they have been unsuccessfully trying to get county officials to allow employees more telecommuting options to save gas. They have also negotiated in recent years to increase the mileage reimbursement rates.

"Working families are constantly bludgeoned by political opportunism regarding their salaries and benefits while county leaders decide whether to spend their car allowance on a Corvette or BMW," said Nick Berardino, general manager of the county's largest and most politically active union, the Orange County Employees Association.

"And while the lower paid employees are struggling with the decision to either put food on their table or gas in their tanks, the county's executive leaders are sending the message: Let them eat cake."

County CEO Tom Mauk bristled at the suggestion from union officials,saying that worker mileage reimbursement rates have been increased several times in recent years.

"It's a reasonable cost of doing business," Mauk said of the allowance, noting that it's comparable to private industry packages for top executives.

Supervisors may reconsider their gas perks Tuesday when they vote on adopting an obscure document on their agenda called a personnel salary resolution. The item - scheduled for the weekly meeting - includes tons of language detailing county perks as well as personnel policies such as limits on outside work or surfing the Internet.

After getting calls from the Register, several supervisors said they might take a new look at how the county hands out free gas.

"That's a fair question," Bates said about her car and free gas. Bates described the county car as the lesser of two evils. She said she decided on the car because unlike the car allowance it doesn't fuel her county pension and the taxpayers get to keep the car when she's done with it.

Yet Bates and other supervisors also note they could do away with the perk.

"There's new dynamics here that we should take into consideration," Bates said. "With the increase in the costs of gas, all of this becomes relevant to see where we go from here."

Supervisors' Chairman John Moorlach said he stayed away from the free car and gas during his decade-long tenure as the county's elected treasurer.

"I have never, ever taken advantage of the free car, gas or maintenance," Moorlach said. "I just didn't feel comfortable."

Moorlach, who does take the car allowance, also said it was a good idea to discuss the free gas perk.

Using the IRS mileage reimbursement rate of 48.5 cents a mile - the same used by the county for workers - officials would have to drive 1,577 miles each month on county business for taxpayers to break even.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.